Toronto-based producer Susan Coyne says she always knew “Daisy Jones & the Six,” the show she worked on, would get an Emmy nod, but she never thought she’d receive one herself.
“It’s a little unreal,” says Coyne, part of the production team nominated in the best limited series category set to be awarded Monday.
“I’ve had the good fortune to work on such amazing projects and (getting an Emmy nod) actually never even crossed my mind. It does seem kind of miraculous that we’re also nominated for it. My focus was just on what fun we were having doing it. I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to the Emmys! OK.””
“Daisy Jones & the Six,” which she co-executive produced along with heavyweight partners including Reese Witherspoon and James Ponsoldt, is up against Netflix’s “Beef” and “Dahmer,” and Disney Plus’ “Obi-wan Kenobi” and “Fleishman is in Trouble.”
Toronto’s Deborah Chow is part of the producing team behind “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
This marks Coyne’s first Emmy nomination. The 65-year-old says the first people she told were her son, who’s in his early 30s, and her daughter, who’s in her early 20s. They didn’t exactly jump with joy.
“My kids are very cool. They were like, ‘Oh, yeah, good,'” she laughs. “They were excited, but they don’t jump up and down at their age.”
Coyne was born in Ottawa and grew up in Winnipeg before moving to Toronto, where she worked as an actress and co-founded the Soulpepper Theatre Company. Her big break into TV came in 2003, when she co-created and starred in acclaimed Canadian drama series “Slings and Arrows.”
That led her to Los Angeles, where she wrote on Prime Video’s “Mozart in the Jungle.” From there, she was invited to work on “Daisy Jones & the Six.” The musical drama miniseries, based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, follows the epic rise and fall of a fictional ’70s rock band and its frontwoman Daisy Jones, played by Riley Keough.
Coyne says she was a big fan of the book, which was loosely based on Fleetwood Mac. The writing team spent lots of time together scouting the iconic locales where the book was set, from legendary neighbourhood Laurel Canyon to nightclub The Troubadour.
“The fun of bringing the book to life in the place where it was set was one of the most magical things about it,” she says.
Coyne says she was also glad to help bring a distinctly female perspective to “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Hello Sunshine, the Reese Witherspoon-founded media company that created the series for Prime Video, is known for hiring women behind the scenes.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of women in rock ‘n’ roll, so it was really fun to try and sort of see it through that point of view, especially in those days when it was such a rarity. It’s not a rarity now, but in the ’70s, to be a woman in rock ‘n’ roll was pretty trailblazing.”
Also chasing an Emmy on Monday is Hamilton’s Martin Short, who is in the running for best actor in a comedy series for his turn as true crime podcast host Oliver Putnam in Disney Plus’ “Only Murders in the Building.”
Coyne will be hitting the Emmys red carpet with her good friend Mark McKinney, who co-created “Slings & Arrows” with her and is likely best known for his roles on “Kids in the Hall” and “Superstore.”
She says she’ll be wearing “a little bit of all parts of Canada” that she’s been to recently, including a black skirt she picked up at a vintage store in Halifax, and a jacket she bought in Toronto. She says she’s proud to be repping her home and native land at the awards bash.
“I feel lucky that I get to live here and work around the world,” she says. “That’s the sweet spot for me, to stay connected to my family here. I think a lot of people feel that way. We wear our Canadian mission proudly when we go elsewhere.”
As for where she’ll keep her Emmy if she wins?
“Somewhere subtle, but not too subtle. I’m Canadian, after all. It has to be somewhere that people have to do a double take and say, ‘Oh, sorry. What was that?'”
The 75th Emmy Awards air Monday on Fox, CTV2, CTV.ca and the CTV app.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2024.
